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Israelites were commanded to “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12), but Pharisees and scribes had claimed whatever they might use to honor parents was “Corban,” or devoted to God (Leviticus 1:2). Jesus exposed their using the Bible to contradict the Bible by saying, “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:3-6 NKJV). Did Jesus contradict other Scriptures when He said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16 NKJV)? “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV). Since “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), then it is a “commandment of men” to make Paul cancel Jesus’ requirement for salvation.

This is Johnny Polk, with “Words of Wisdom” brought to you by the Oneida church of Christ.

When one understands and believes in the correct origin of the Bible then one can see and understand the flow of God’s word from beginning to end. As the Bible reveals the mind of God its purity can be seen from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:5. Now when I say the Bible is pure I mean that it is free from the adulterating matter of man’s influence with clarity that is not always appreciated. Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.” The word translated “pure” comes from the Hebrew word “Tsaraph” meaning “to smelt, refine or test.” In other words, the word of God will pass the test every time, all of the time and for all of time!

One of the critical mistakes that people make with reading and examining the Bible is making the assumption that a personal interpretation that seemingly causes God’s word to “contradict” itself actually reflects upon the purity, integrity or infallibility of the Bible. The truth of the matter is that the word of God doesn’t contradict when all scriptures on a given topic are considered. Without a doubt personal interpretations contradict, but God’s word does not. Concerning the purity of God’s word the book of Psalms said long ago, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” (Psalm 119:160 – ESV). Alleged “contradictions” come from people taking “some” of God’s word into consideration instead of taking the totality of God’s word into consideration when they study and search the scriptures for answers.

Does this mean that all of the Bible is easy to study and understand? Absolutely not! It takes diligence and an honest effort to find the truth. It takes viewing the whole picture instead of looking for the hole in the picture. There’s nothing wrong or disingenuous in saying that difficulties can come when we study certain topics found in God’s word. As a matter of fact the apostle Peter warned of certain people who were intentionally abusing certain aspects of the letters written by the hands of Paul through the inspiration of God’s Spirit due to their difficulty when he said, “Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 – CEB) Peter didn’t say the topics under consideration were impossible to understand, but rather that they were hard or difficult to understand. A proper understanding begins with diligently and properly studying and dividing God’s word as Paul himself told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 – “Make an effort to present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker, who doesn’t need to be ashamed but is one who interprets the message of truth correctly.”

We can have confidence in the word of God because of its purity. Purity in any form is a rare thing, and if people would treat the word of God as they do the rare riches found upon the earth then we would understand why we should study the Bible due to the great value that it contains.

“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)